Ever since man realized that he could fly by means of hardware attached to him or surrounding him, he has attempted to combine the two basic elements of flying: lifting himself up in the air and moving around, once up in the air. To achieve these two basic steps, power must also be provided by or to such hardware. Two major generic types of such hardware have evolved during the past century, on a large scale: airplanes and helicopters. During the second half of this century, attempts were made to combine the two basic features of these two main types of aircrafts: VTOL (Vertical Take Off & Landing) airplanes. The basic attempts involved such approaches as: (1) rotating the propulsive means upward, (2) deflecting the propulsion means airstream downward, and (3) providing the craft with two separate sources for lifting power and forward thrust, one being best adapted to and for each one of these two types of operational modes.
None of these attempts has been very successful in the case of aircrafts powered by propellers. However, each basic type of crafts, airplanes and helicopters, has done very well on its own and is widely used for its best suited applications. Therefore, it seems natural to attempt to combine the favorable attributes of each type and to eliminate their disadvantages in an effort to provide lifting capability and speed in the same aircraft. Such a new type of aircraft is needed and considerable efforts are now being made worldwide to that effect.